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Water Use Efficiency Program Annual Report Fiscal Year 2004-05 PDF

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Santa Clara Valley Water DiStriCt Water Use efficiency Program AnnuAl RepoRt fiscAl yeAR 2004-2005  Our Mission the mission of the District is a healthy, safe, and enhanced quality of living in Santa Clara County through watershed stewardship and comprehensive management of water resources in a practical, cost-effective, and environmentally sensitive manner. 5750 Almaden expressway, san Jose, cA 95118 • (408) 265-2600 www.valleywater.org i About the santa clara Valley Water District the Santa Clara Valley Water District is the primary water resources agency for Santa Clara County, California. it acts not only as the county’s water wholesaler, but also as its flood protection agency and is the steward for its streams and creeks, underground aquifers and District-built reservoirs. as the county’s water wholesaler, the Water District ensures there is enough clean, safe water for homes, businesses and agriculture. as the agency responsible for local flood protection, the Water District works diligently to protect Santa Clara Valley residents and businesses from the devastating effects of flooding. Our stream stewardship responsibilities include creek restoration and wildlife habitat projects, pollution prevention efforts and a commitment to natural flood protection. santa clara Valley Water District Board of Directors Rosemary Kamei District  Joe Judge District 2 Richard p. santos District 3 larry Wilson District 4 Gregory A. Zlotnick District 5 tony estremera at large sig sanchez at large front row, seated (from left to right): Sig Sanchez, rosemary Kamei, Gregory Zlotnick Back row, standing (from left to right): Joe Judge, tony estremera, larry Wilson, richard Santos ii from the office of the ceo his year the District has been focusing on the “value of water” — looking t at the true value of water and the far reaching impacts of water use. This is especially significant for the Water Use Efficiency Program, which strives to educate the public about using this most valuable of resources wisely and efficiently. This is not an easy task, particularly in years of above-average rainfall, as we’ve seen this year. However, when you examine the true value of water — and how it relates to energy — it quickly becomes clear that using water efficiently is essential year ‘round, regardless of reservoir and underground aquifer levels. Water Use Efficiency at the District refers to actions and activities that lead to sustainable or renewable uses of water, and includes water conservation, water recycling and desalination. With this in mind, the Water Use Efficiency (WUE) Unit continued moving forward with its innovative water conservation program and helped to expand countywide recycled water use, reducing current water use by an estimated 46,000 acre-feet of water in FY 04-05. This is a notable achievement, not only because it eases the demand on water supply, but also because of a reduction in energy demand and benefits to air quality. In 2005, the WUE Unit analyzed the impacts of water conservation and recycling programs and estimated the energy savings from these programs to be more than 196 million kWh for FY 04-05 alone; cumulative energy savings are estimated to be more than 1.3 billion kWh from FY 92 - FY 05, the time span during which these programs have been operational. For FY 04-05, emissions of over 89 million kg of carbon dioxide were avoided due to the District’s water conservation and water recycling programs. For FY 91-92 through FY 04-05, the emissions of over 1.2 billion kg of carbon dioxide were avoided due to the District’s water conservation and water recycling programs. The District’s long-term water supply planning combines integrated water resources planning with watershed stewardship. The District’s 2005 Urban Water Management Plan concludes that the District cannot meet demands through 2030 without maximizing opportunities for water conservation. Demand with conservation programs in place in 2030 is projected to be approximately 450,000 acre-feet. Using 1992 as a baseline, the county will be permanently conserving an estimated 100,000 acre-feet per year by the year 2030. In sum, water conservation will help to meet nearly 20% of the community’s water demand, making it a key part of the District’s water supply portfolio. The 2005 Urban Water Management Plan also states that recycled water has become an important additional source of supply and its role in offsetting demand for potable water will be more significant in the future. Recycled water projects provide a water supply source that is largely independent of weather patterns. Ensuring that the county’s water supply comes from a variety of sources enables the District to maintain maximum reliability and flexibility in providing for its residents’ water needs. Understanding the true value of water and using it wisely to meet the needs of this growing community will continue to be a goal of the District in the years ahead. Stanley M. Williams Chief Executive Officer, Santa Clara Valley Water District iii contents ii About the santa clara Valley 8 Water conservation 29 Water Recycling and Water District Desalination iii from the ceo 9 Water Conservation in the Home 1 introduction 3 Water Conservation in Business 32 South Bay Water recycling Program 5 the energy savings- 8 Water Use efficiency in agriculture 37 Palo alto recycled Water Water savings link 20 education and Outreach 38 Sunnyvale recycled Water 7 calendar of events 23 Publications 39 South County recycled Water 24 Grants and Cost-sharing 4 Bay area regional Desalination agreements Project 26 Studies and research 43 regional Brackish Water Desalination Project 27 Future Projects 46 education and Outreach 46 Grants and Cost-sharing agreements 47 Studies and research Water utility enterprise Walt Wadlow Chief Operating Officer Water supply Management Division Keith Whitman Deputy Operating Officer Melanie Richardson assistant Operating Officer Water use efficiency unit staff Hossein Ashktorab Unit Manager shicha chander assistant engineer ii Jerry De la piedra Senior Water Conservation Specialist Kevin Galvin Water Conservation Specialist i pam John Senior Civil engineer Jeannine larabee Water Conservation Specialist i Karen Morvay Water Conservation Specialist ii the Water Use efficiency Unit of the Santa Clara Valley Alice Ringer Program administrator Water District. Robert siegfried assistant engineer ii agricultural toni Vye Senior Office Specialist Ray Wong associate engineer (Civil) stanley Zhu Senior Civil engineer iv WAteR use efficiency: conseRVAtion, RecyclinG & DesAlinAtion summary the water conservation, recycling and desalination programs in the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s (District) Water Use efficiency Unit (WUe) reduce demand placed on existing water supplies, helping to defer the cost and environmental impact of developing additional supplies. these programs also protect the South Bay salt march habitat by reducing freshwater effluent released from wastewater treatment facilities. these programs also assist the District in meeting its Board ends Policy on water reliability, water conservation and water recycling. the District’s policies, in conjunction with the District’s integrated Water resources Plan (iWrP) and 2005 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP), emphasize the need for its water supply to be reliable to meet future demands, for water recycling to be expanded within Santa Clara County in partnership with the community, and that the District has a variety of water supply sources. a number of the District’s Water Use efficiency Unit activities and programs have improved the reliability of District supplies and reduced the risk of shortages during drought periods. important in this list of programs are the District’s water conservation program and the recycled water program. together, conservation and water recycling accounted for 46,000 acre-feet (aF) of water saving per year. With the projected growth in this area, their roles in offsetting demand for potable water will be even more significant in the future. a new activity, desalination, was included as a program within the WUe Unit at the direction of the District’s CeO two years ago. Staff is evaluating the feasibility of desalination (bay/ ocean/brackish) as part of both regional and local efforts. the current desalination technology  San FranCiSCO Bay MILPITAS CalaVeraS PALO MOUNTAIN reSerVOir (SFPUC) ALTO VIEW LOS ALTOS CUSPU St keeerC vsne E NRNTIYNVOALE zaas bCreek a la CmaSCs AAqLuin oCreek ANRTGuAAadalupe River Coyote Creek Upper Penitencia Creek S a nC tOaU nC tl ya r a rSetCSeerVreeVenOKSir CASna ToMPBELL os Creek JSOASNE SaCrraetoekga Los Gat N SARATOGAGLAOTOlSreeXSrSiVneeaSrGeSVtrOOOVniOnrair GrUeSaeD ArlaamViltOoUs iPCrereek reCSaCeolryeoVrteOO Cirreek arneSDeerrVSOOinr Coyote Creek W S E laK(eS JeWlSCM)an raelSMearVDOenir rCeHSeerSVBrOOirMOHRMIGLASLAARNTNIN Coyote CreekCOyOte Pacheco Creek reSerVOir UVaS reSerVOir Uvas Crke e GILROY Llagas Creek rPeaSCeHrVeCOOir P ajaro River is very similar to the technology used to lower salts in advanced treatment of recycled water. recycled water has become an important additional source of supply and perhaps cost-effective desalinated water may be too. Both recycled water and desalinated water will be available supplies when all other conventional supplies are depleted. Some of the District‘s programs—such as storing water locally or outside the county (banking) and establishing agreements to buy or sell water to other agencies (transfers)— help increase District water supplies in years of shortage, as do District programs aimed at maintaining and maximizing local groundwater storage. recycled water projects provide a water supply source that is largely independent of weather patterns and is considered an all-weather source. a renewed focus on advanced treated recycled water is under consideration for groundwater recharge and increasing stream flows, thereby enhancing the District’s conjunctive water management. the District maintains that water use efficiency programs, such as water conservation and recycling, be maximized because they are key strategies to minimize overall demand. this fourth annual report for the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s Water Use efficiency Unit (WUe) provides an overview of achievements in Fiscal year 04-05, and a look at current water use efficiency programs, including water conservation, water recycling and desalination. the report also looks at new and future projects and partnerships. 2 The District maintains the Santa Clara Valley Water District has been, and continues to be, a that water use efficiency leader in water use efficiency, with programs that are innovative and programs, such as water conservation and comprehensive in scope. in Fy 04-05, these water conservation and water recycling, be maximized recycling programs helped save the District 46,000 acre-feet of water. because they are key strategies to minimize this fiscal year was a successful one for developing partnerships. as an overall demand. example, the Water Softener replacement rebate Program, a regional effort between the District, San Benito County Water District (SBCWD), and South County regional Wastewater authority (SCrWa), is under way. Furthermore, the District and San Benito County Water District are joint recipients of $245,000 in Proposition 50 grants to conduct a $490,000 brackish water feasibility study in the Pajaro river basin. in addition to the many water conservation programs already in place, several new programs were launched this year, and numerous others were revised and improved. On the residential conservation side, the residential Clothes Washer rebate Program was redesigned and improved. this grant-funded regional effort provides residents with either a $00 or $50 rebate for a high-efficiency clothes washer (the higher the efficiency of the machine, the higher the rebate). On the Commercial, industrial and institutional (Cii) conservation side, the Cii Water Use Survey Program, the Commercial High-efficiency toilet installation Program, and the High-efficiency Medical equipment rebate Program were launched this fiscal year. the GardenSoft CD-rOM software is also a new addition to the water conservation program. this interactive CD-rOM showcases more than ,000 native, drought-tolerant and water-efficient plants, and features the District’s landscape design brochure “rules of thumb for Water-Wise Gardening.” through features such as “Garden tours” and “Garden Gallery,” users can view plants in beautiful, well-established gardens and click on them to learn about each plant’s water, sun and soil requirements. the District was honored to be the recipient of several awards this year: • the District was given the acterra Business environmental award’s susanne Wilson Award for pollution prevention and resource conservation in the special projects category for its Water Softener rebate Program. this pilot program, which began in november 2003 and concluded in September 2004, provided 400 residents with a rebate of $50 each for the replacement of their old water softener system with a newer, Pam John, Shicha Chander, Director larry Wilson and ray Wong with the acterra more efficient system. Business environmental award. 3 • the District was selected as one of the finalists for the prestigious 2005 clair A. Hill Water Agency Award for excellence, sponsored by the association of California Water agencies for the Water Softener rebate Pilot Program. this award recognizes outstanding achievements by public water agencies. • the District’s Water-efficient Demonstration Garden design received a Merit Award in the analysis, research Planning and Communication category of the annual awards competition organized by the northern California Chapter of the american Society of landscape architects. this is quite an honor, and reflects recognition by a panel of professional landscape architects, urban designers, University of California professors and an environmental artist of the caliber of the work. Fiscal year 04-05 was another successful year for bring- ing in grant revenue to the District. Grants totaling $3.48 million were awarded to the District from the State of California Department of Water resources Proposition 50 grant funding. Grant funding recom- mendations for the District included: • Chapter 6 (desalination) funding recommendations (includes entire regional share): $494,756 • Chapter 7 (recycling) funding recommendations (includes entire regional share): $2.23 Million • Chapter 7 (water use efficiency) funding recommen- dations (District funding amount only): $757,250 the District received a total of $3,482,006 for these sections of the proposition 50 grant (including regional portions). in addition, the Wue unit entered into cost-sharing agreements with several regional and local agencies totaling nearly $700,000 for a variety of water use efficiency programs. 4 A closer look: the energy savings – Water savings link this year we conducted an in-depth energy savings due to the District’s analysis of the impact of our water Water conservation programs use efficiency programs on water sav- ings, energy savings and air quality. Cumulative total savings for Fy 92-93 through Fy 04-05: 1,330,000,000 kWh* While the primary goal of water use efficiency programs is to use water 200 n) more efficiently, thereby increasing o milli150 water supply reliability, ancillary h (100 benefits include energy savings and W reduced emissions of greenhouse gases, k 50 reactive organic gases, 0 92 - 93 - 94 - 95 - 96 - 97 - 98- 99- 00- 01- 02- 03- 04- and particulates (energy 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 FiSCal year production generates air * energy savings data obtained from the Pacific institute’s emissions; a reduction in “Water to air Model” using District-specific water supply data energy production leads to a reduction in air emis- sions). energy savings due to the District’s Water conservation programs reduce Water Recycling programs energy consumption and air emissions through two routes: 10 Cumulative total savings for Fy 98-99 through Fy 04-05: 34,000,000 kWh* n) • Decreasing end-use demand for hot o milli water, and ( 5 h • reducing water flow upstream and W k downstream from the point of end- 0 use. 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 FiSCal year Water recycling programs lead to * energy savings data obtained from the Pacific institute’s “Water to air Model” using District-specific water supply energy savings and air emission reduc- data tions through decreasing water flow upstream and downstream from the Energy savings resulting from the District’s water conser- point of end-use. vation and water recycling programs are estimated to be over 196 million kWh for FY 04-05 (only) and over 1.36 to determine the energy savings from billion kWh for FY 91-92 through FY 04-05. reducing end-use demand for hot water, 5

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